Car construction



May. 1 2, 1931. A J. o. NEIKIRK 1,804,702

' GAR CONSTRUCTION Filed sept. 5, 1930 2 sheets-Sheet 1 lnvrv" UL? 'L ONeikirk Maly 12, 1931. J. o. NEIKIRK 1,804,702

CAR CONSTRUCTION l A Filed Sept. 5, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FSQZ PatentedMay 12, 1931 #STATES PATENT oFFicE' JOHN o. NnIKInK, OIACHICAGQ,ILLINoIs, AssIGNoRiToFnonenn yBALLAs'rmiracolarANm oF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,A conronATIoN. or :MAINE Y CAR CONSTRUCTION `,Appiimnm 'med `september5,1930. serial No. 47,9555.

' Thisinventionrelates to an improvedconstruction"forlrailroadcarsfofthe type having vside .wallsandopen top,andis hereinillustratedas applied to a `carofthehopper type. '5] Moreparticularly this invention ,relates lto ,van improved construction ojfgusset or bracing ymeansYortheAS,ide Walls. y

In @railroadcarsof the :type having side Walls and i open .tops wWhichare particularly- .adapted `for the 4,conveyance of loose bulky,ladingssuch ascQaI, gravehfsand or other l,inate'rials,similar in kind,it has'been ound necessary :to provide bracing means for the .Wallslof,the cal Nvhelebyto Prevent the kWalls from bulgingorotherwse becomingdamaged n ,in use. 'In,th,e,past,thefbracing strength, hasy,ini'someinstanices, been supplied by a transverse.bar,or bars, whichextends transversely 4ofthe car land are connected yto lthe upper`fedges of the side Walls.

' 7Vher-eas bars of this character supply the vrnecessary bracingstrength, objection totheir use has i-,been raised ,for-there'ason thatthey 'interfere 'with the free `movement of various types of implementswhich are novv commonly used in the loading and unloading processes. Forinstance, lin rmany instances, [cars :of this character ,areleaded t andunloaded vby means ,Off .mechanical buckets, shovels Q1' V,the like sowhich are `power centrelled ,rQrn a `remote ".lQCatQn, ,and'in practiceit is -found thatisuch y loadingand lunladng1'1.mplementS,frequentlyeateh'upon, .er hit aganstybfaeingbars .of the aberedescrbeditype, with.the resultftihat the "loading or unloading operation is interfered withand furthermore, the bars arev bent,

broken or Otherwise Seriously damaged.

VIn view'ofthis objection, inmanyinstances, bracing plates 'in thelformof gussets have been employed, ,which .are formed las triangular platesof sheet metal and extend transversely across the lower corner of thecar betWeenfthe under frame and thebracing stakes :for the, side Walls.

`The present invention has to do With animproved "bracing gusset ofthisigenera'l character, which is formed of a substantially VUconstruction andcomprises a transverse web or sheet, which ext-endsentirely'across the so 'ser et theextreule lewernerteelefef ende.

forattachment to the side y Wall stakes. The

ygusset herein referred `to is `furtherprovided With means for`reinforcing the upper edges thereof throughout its entire length, whichreinforcingmeans is `provided 0n both faces of the` gusset at' the upperedge thereof ina manner to produce greater .strength -and resistance toWear kthan has Vheretofore been provided.A i

The further ,obj ect of this invention is 'to provide a construction ofgusset ofthe type referred to, which is relatively simple inconstructiomand .is capable of l-being', easily and cheaplymanufactured, and all theparts Aof -vvhich are highly practical from'thecommer- `pended claims .and an understanding of the -disclosedembodim-ent With `an appreciation of the advantage which the invention.produces'therein. Y l' n Thefollowing description lmay 4be morereadilyunderstoodby referring'to theaccomx-panying drawings in which:

Figure 1 yis a crosssectional View o f the body of a'hopper carembodyingagusset con vstructed in accordance Withthepresent'invention,andy FigureQ is an enlarged perspective view of a gusset as shown inFigure 1. t

Figure 3 is avplanview of theconstruction shown inliigure 1.

vBy referring `to the drawings, 'it will be noted that the presentinvention is illus- `trated as applied to a hopper or ballast car havingthe usual under lframe 10, side and end Walls 11 and 12, respectively.The under ramecomprises acenter sill 13, and cross beams orstruts 15,which are supported by the center sill and serve to sup-port. theiioor=has upstanding portions atthe'endsthereof of the car. On the outer'ends of the beams 15, side stakes 16 are mounted, which serve as bracingand supporting means for the side walls.

For the purpose of strengthening the car body, construction gussets areemployed which in accordance with the present invention comprise atransverse plate 18, which eX- tends upwardly from the Hoor for aportion of the cars height, and is secured at its bottom edge to thebeam 15, by means of rivets 19, or, other suitable fasteners. rIhe sideedges, of the plate 18 areconstructed to extend to the side stakes 16,and to be fastened thereto by means of rivets or suitable fasteners notshown.

Iniaddition the triangular plates 2O arek car.

For the purpose of reinforcing the upper edges of the gusset described,metallic strips 23 are of different lengths whereby the joint V25, attheir engaging ends is located to one side of the centerline of the car.

Another feature of advantage will be realized from an inspection ofFigure 2,

lwhere it will be notedthat the plate 20, on

one side of the car, is positioned to overlap the plater 18, on one faceof the plate, whereas the plate 20, at the opposite side of the car, -ispositioned to overlap the plate 18, on the opposite face thereof. Thisconstruction provides the small step 26, produced by the overlappingplates to occur on opposite faces of the gusset at the opposite sides ofthe car.

With this in mind it will be further observed that the strip 22, isprovided with a curve or deflection 27, to cause it to properly fit overthe step 26, whereupon by the construction of gusset plates abovedescribed it is possible toy place complementary bracing strips 22 and28 on both faces of the gusset made up as shown with correspondingportions for the two faces of exactly the same formation, andfurthermore, to locate'the joints 25, on opposite sides of the centerline of the car.

As is clearly shown in Figure 2, it will be noted that an extremelysimple gusset construction is provided by this invention, and that ahigh degree of strength is provided by the bracing strips located on theedges of the gusset. Furthermore, by locating the joint 25, inthenon-registering manner above described, it is possible to manufactureeach of the bracing strips in two parts, which is very much simpler andcheaper, without sacrificing strength in the car construction. Whereas,it would bemore diflicult and expensive to form a single bracing stripof the complete U formation, it is a relatively simple and inexpensiveoperation to produce the shorter strips having only a single slightcurvature.

It will also be noted that by locating the upper plates 20, on oppositesides of the plateV 18, that both of the shorter strips 22, which areconstructed to include the bend or bul e for accommodating the step 26are of exact y the same construction, and furthermore,r strips 23, onboth sides are exact duplicates, one ofthe other. This permits theformation of only two types of strips by a relatively cheapmanufacturing process, with a maximum of strength in the final carconstruction.,

As is readily known to those skilled in the'"95 art, gusset plates ofthe character herein referred to, are provided in cars at s acedintervals throughout the length thereo ,in number according to need andstrengthening re-M quirements of the particular car. It will thereforebe understood that the present invention contemplates cars having anynumber of gussets of the above described character as may be required ordesirable in practice.

I claim: Y,

l. In combination with a railroad car having side walls, a gussetextending between and secured to said side walls comprising a lowerportion and upstanding side portions secured to opposite sides of saidlower portion, and reinforcing means on the upper edge thereof composedof two complementary parts having their jointure to one side of thecenter of said usset. Y

2.V n combination with a railroad car having side walls, a gussetextending between and secured to said side walls comprising alowervportion and upstanding side portions secured to opposite sides of saidlower portion and reinforcing means on the upper edge thereof comprisingedge strips on opposite faces of said gusset, having their inner ends inoverlapping relation and secured together, and complementary edge stripsfor said first mentioned strips.

3. In combination with a railroad car having side walls, a gusset ofgeneral U-formation, and reinforcing means on the upper edge thereofcomposed of two complementary parts' having their ointure to one side ofthe center of said gusset. i 4:. In combination With a railroad carhaving side Walls, a gusset of ,general U-formation, and reinforcingmeans on the upper edge thereof` comprising edge strips on oppositefaces of said gusset having `their inner ends in overlapping relationand secured together, and complementary edge strips for said firstmentioned strips.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 2nd day of September, 1930.

` JOHN O. NEIKIRK.

